Category Archives: State of the team

State of the team, Week 13: At San Francisco

Hawks are back at the top — like it or not

November 28, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll talks with line judge Jeff Seeman and referee Tony Corrente before Seattle's game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. (Getty) — Not a good sign: This was Pete Carroll talking with line judge Jeff Seeman and referee Tony Corrente BEFORE Seattle was called for a season-high 14 penalties against the 49ers (Getty)

You know the Seahawks are back to normal when they are No. 1 again — not just in defense but in penalties.

It’s fairly obvious the two go hand in hand on Pete Carroll’s club.

When the defense is playing like it has the past two weeks, the Hawks can pretty easily overcome high penalty totals. Just ask all of the Hawks who were on the team in 2013, when the Hawks walked off with their first Super Bowl title despite leading the league in flags.

After drawing a season-worst 14 penalties for 105 yards Thursday in a 19-3 domination of the San Francisco 49ers, the Hawks once again lead the NFL in penalties. They had been as low as fourth over the last few weeks, but they have assumed their accustomed place.

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State of the team, Week 11: At Kansas CIty

Hawks have NFL’s worst penalty differential

November 21, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Super Bowl XL goat Bill Leavy’s crew screwed the
Seahawks again, but it’s not like he and his zebras are the only ones who have been giving Seattle opponents a helping hand this season.

On Sunday against Kansas City, the Hawks were flagged eight times (for 50 yards) to the Chiefs’ three (for a whopping six yards). But the Chiefs obviously committed more fouls than that, and the NFL reportedly admitted it Thursday.

The biggest miss was a non-call on pass interference committed by Kansas City cornerback Sean Smith against Seattle receiver Doug Baldwin on fourth down from the 2-yard line late in the fourth quarter of the 24-20 loss. The Seahawks should have had a first down at the 1 — and they almost certainly would have scored a touchdown, which might have resulted in a 27-24 win.

“The interpretation was it definitely played a factor in (Baldwin’s) route and it should have been called,” Carroll told USA Today. “There’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to live with it. That’s just part of the game.”

Unfortunately, it has been a big part of Seattle’s games all season.

The Seahawks have the worst penalty differential in the league, called for 3.6 more penalties per game than their opponents. If that continues, it will easily be the largest margin in the NFL since at least 1990, per sportingcharts.com.

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State of the team, Week 12: Arizona

Is Wilson’s slump over?

November 19, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Russell Wilson has been scuffling along for weeks, fighting a passing slump (we can only hope it is passing) that has been worse than
anything since early in his rookie season.

It’s almost as if he has been enduring the so-called sophomore slump in his junior season.

He played better in Kansas City, seeming to find a little rhythm with his receivers, but he still was unable to rally the Hawks — the third time in Seattle’s four losses he has not been able to win it at the end.

You would think the third-year quarterback would be past that kind of a skid, especially considering all of the trials and tribulations he overcame last season, when he played behind a battered and leaky offensive line against some of the league’s best defenses and still led the Hawks to a Super Bowl title.

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Contracts, State of the team

Carroll admits Lynch’s contract is still an issue

November 17, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll finally admitted that there is a disconnect
between Marshawn Lynch and the
Seahawks’ front
office and that it stems from the running back’s offseason contract dispute.

NFL.com continues to reiterate that the team will part ways with Lynch after this season, and Carroll did little to dispel that notion Monday on 710 ESPN.

Asked about his relationship with Lynch, Carroll said, “We’re working through it” — which sure seems like a euphemism for “we tolerate each other, but it’s not going to work past this
season.”

While it certainly is possible that Lynch returns in 2015, all signs seem to point the other direction.

Continue reading Carroll admits Lynch’s contract is still an issue →

State of the team, Week 9: Oakland

Carroll thinks his team is ready to finish strong

November 4, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Despite missing nearly a dozen key players Sunday and barely beating a winless team because of it, Pete
Carroll thinks his team has turned the corner at the right time and is ready to finish strong in the second half of the season.

You might question the wisdom of saying your team accomplished something by beating the Oakland Raiders, but Carroll’s optimism is understandable considering his team’s situation.

“Under the circumstances of this game, where so many guys played that haven’t played before, I take maybe more out of it because of that,” he said. “Offense played tough, special teams played tough; we just didn’t play well all the time. The kind of effort that we need to be a good football team was there, and so that’s a good sign for us.”

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State of the team, Week 8: At Carolina

This year, Hawks have needed the young guys

October 30, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Because the Seahawks won the Super Bowl last season, it is easy to forget that half of their roster is comprised of players with less than three years of experience.

Starters Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner, Bruce Irvin, J.R. Sweezy and Jermaine Kearse are only in their third seasons, and 21 more of the 53 players on the roster have not yet played three seasons. Eleven others are in just their fourth seasons.

The Seahawks barely used any of their rookies in 2013, relying largely on veterans — and that’s a loose term, considering some of them had just one or two years of experience.

So, coming into this season, the Hawks in effect had almost two full rookie classes. And the questions were: Would any of the remaining 2013 rookies step up to replace departed free agents and would the 2014 class redshirt as most of the 2013 class did?

Due to injuries and one big trade, the answers are yes and no, as many young players have stepped forward in recent weeks.

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State of the team

Carroll denies reports of rift with Lynch

October 27, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll responded directly Monday to reports of a rift between himself and running back Marshawn Lynch, saying, “I don’t know where that came from,” and scoffed at the idea that the Hawks would consider trading Lynch.

Both ESPN and NFL Network reported Sunday morning that the Seahawks had grown tired of Lynch’s attitude and had already decided to move on from him after this season. The ESPN report indicated that the Hawks might have tried to trade him if Derrick Coleman had not broken his foot last week.

“I have no idea where that came from,” Carroll said. “We have nothing to say about that. At this point I don’t think it behooves us to try and respond to all of these kinds of things in the locker room. Our players have told you how they feel, our coaches have told you how we feel about it and we’re in a really good place right now.”

As for the report that Carroll and Lynch do not communicate, Carroll said he talks to Lynch “whenever I need to.”

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State of the team, Week 8: At Carolina

Lynch & team bosses reportedly at odds, but it’s not a distraction

October 27, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Amid reports that some teammates are jealous of quarterback Russell Wilson and that the Seahawks are ready to part ways with Marshawn Lynch, coach Pete Carroll and Wilson declared Sunday after they beat Carolina that the team is not distracted.

“The things that have been said have been said on the outside. We have no problem. No problem,” Carroll said. “Whatever the conversation is, that’s the job of the media to try to figure stuff out. That’s not what’s going on here. I have no problem. It was not a distraction at all. Our guys don’t care about what’s being said.”

In the wake of the Percy Harvin trade and Mike Freeman’s incendiary report on Wilson, the latest revelation is that the Hawks’ relationship with Lynch has reached a breaking point, with the team finally tired of the running back’s antics and Lynch apparently so upset with the team that he is talking about quitting again.

Seattle might even have tried to trade Lynch by Tuesday’s deadline if fullback Derrick Coleman had not suffered a broken foot last week, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported. With Coleman out, though, the Hawks have to use No. 2 tailback Robert Turbin as their fullback.

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State of the team, Week 8: At Carolina

Carroll & Schneider learned how fragile their team’s psyche is

October 26, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Percy Harvin Debacle was a great lesson for Pete Carroll and John Schneider: They learned just how fragile the psyche of their young Super Bowl team still is.

And they probably learned which other malcontents they are going to need to send packing to make sure their team remains a Super Bowl contender.

This was bound to happen. Carroll and Schneider have flirted with this kind of danger ever since they came to Seattle — bringing in bad apples such as Terrell Owens, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow while courting chuckleheads such as Brandon Marshall and Vincent Jackson.

Adding those kinds of idiots to a young team is always a huge risk — too many impressionable kids on your team. Harvin apparently swung a few of them his way in his 19 months in Seattle.

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State of the team, Week 7: At St. Louis

Seahawks showed folly & wisdom in Harvin saga

October 18, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ stunning trade of Percy Harvin says a lot about John Schneider, Pete Carroll, Darrell Bevell and the entire franchise.

They were naïve, hopeful, enabling and nearly self-defeating, but they also realized what a colossal error it was and probably made a great move — however shocking it was — in order to save their offense and season.

The ill-advised decision (we said it then, so we can say it now) to trade for Harvin and give him a $67 million contract last year was easily Schneider’s biggest gamble since he and Carroll arrived in 2010. And, unsurprisingly, the GM lost big time.

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